The FP_IMAGING guide

Getting started, prompts that work, tips, and what things cost · Updated 3 November 2026

1. Start here

There are two ways to use FP_IMAGING. The app and everything in this guide are the same for both; only signing in and paying differ.

Then, for everyone

1. Use Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. They're the only browsers that can save straight into a folder on your computer.
2. Change your password any time: your name (top right) > Change my password.
3. Choose your save folder at the end of the welcome tour. Pick the project folder or a folder on the network drive. Every render, edit, clip and film is saved there. Only you see your work. You can change the folder any time in Settings > Save folder.
4. Pick Exteriors, Interiors or Landscapes with the app switcher at the top left.
5. Talk instead of typing. Every description box has a small microphone at its right-hand end. Click it, speak, and click again (or press Esc) to stop. Say "comma", "full stop" or "new line" for punctuation. The first time, the browser asks to use your microphone: click Allow. The speech is turned into text by your browser's own service (Google in Chrome, Microsoft in Edge), so it needs an internet connection.

2. Your first render

1. Load a clean image: a viewport grab, clay render, sketch or photo. Drag it onto the Render tab.
2. Get the ratio badge green. Crop to a standard ratio (16:9, 3:2 or 4:3) for the best quality.
3. 2 · What is it: set Input type honestly (a sketch and a clay render are handled differently). Leave Fidelity on Strict; use Refine only when the input is rough and needs detail added, like mullions, joints and balustrades.
4. 3 · Site & light: set the site location, context and time of day. A few clear choices beat a long paragraph.
5. 4 · People, cars, materials: name the facade materials.
6. Engine and size: start with GPT Image 2.5 Flare at 2K (the default): it holds your view most reliably. Try Nano Banana 2.1 for the most photographic detail, and keep 4K for the final image.
7. Render, then drag the before/after slider slowly across the building edges: they should line up with your design.

3. Clean input = better renders

The engine renders what it sees. Anything on screen, it tries to turn into architecture.

• No interface in the grab: no gizmos, grids, axes, selection highlights or toolbars.
• No shadows or ambient occlusion. Baked-in shadows read as dark paint, so whites come out grey.
• Hide what you don't want rendered: dimensions, text, tags, guide lines.
• Model the context you want kept, even as simple blocks. For aerials, include the whole site boundary and surrounding streets.
• Finished render or photo with strong lighting? Use Convert to line drawing first, then render from the linework.
• Sketches: dark lines on white, scanned flat and square-on.

4. Prompt examples that work

Write like a brief to a visualiser: short, concrete nouns, real materials, one idea per line. Say what you want, not what you don't.

5. Editing with layers

Every change is a new layer on top of an untouched base, like Photoshop.

1. Click Edit this render, or load any image in the Edit tab.
2. Mark the area with the Brush B, Marquee M or Lasso L. Hold Alt to subtract. Mark a little more than the object, including the ground under people and cars.
3. Describe the change and click Generate layer. Not right? Hide or delete the layer, change its opacity, or erase part of it with E.
4. The design changed after the client approved a render? Don't re-render. Open the approved render, click Design update and load the new viewport, exported from the same saved camera at the same size. The app marks only what changed; Generate layer redraws it from the new drawing, and the sky, light, people and everything else stay exactly as approved. For big changes or a moved camera, make a fresh render with the approved one as a style reference.
5. Landscapes: planting zones. In the Landscapes app, the Edit tab has a Planting zones section under Generate layer. Mark a bed, describe it or pick species from your palette, click Save as zone, and repeat for every bed. Then Plant all zones: each bed becomes its own layer.
6. Time of day · Weather · Season changes the whole scene as a layer, without touching the architecture. Great for turning an existing render into dusk or night.
7. Edits save to the gallery automatically, with every layer kept. Use Save a copy for a separate version, or Download PNG.

6. Video and film

• Video tab: start from a finished render, pick a camera move, an engine, a length and a resolution. Clips take 1 to 5 minutes, and you can keep working meanwhile.
• Add an end frame (for example the same view at night) for controlled transitions.
• Film tab: put clips on the timeline, trim them, add transitions, fades, voice-over and music, then export. Use Save to keep the project and Open a saved film to come back to it.
• Test cheap first: try a move on Seedance 2.0 Fast or Kling 3.0 Standard, then make the final clip on a premium engine.

7. Tips and tricks

• Batches (2 to 8 images) are for exploring. Use a Draft engine (Seedream 5.0 Flash, Nano Banana 2 Lite), like the best, then make one hero image.
• Another angle? Use New views on a finished render: orbits, drone, worm's eye, close-ups and vignettes. Changing Shot type won't move the camera.
• Bigger image? Render at 2K and Upscale (Bria is faithful and cheap) instead of re-rendering at 4K.
• Aerials: set the shot type to Aerial / drone, and model every building in view.
• Night and dusk: interior lights come on by themselves. Describe special facade lighting under Anything else.
• Specific car, tree or material? Add a reference image to the edit.
• Gallery (the last tab, after Film): click any image for everything you can do with it: like, edit, recreate, make a video, download.
• Keyboard: F fit · 1 100% · C compare · Space+drag pan · scroll to zoom · [ ] brush size · Ctrl+Z undo.

8. What things cost, and what to watch

Typical costs per job in US dollars, at the AI provider's list prices. The real cost of every job is recorded and shown under your name > My credit. Failed jobs cost nothing.

Images

Video (one clip)

9. Your credit

• You get a monthly AI credit (set by your firm's admin). It renews on the 1st of each month.
• "Credit left" at the top of the app shows what's left. You're warned when you're down to $10; change that level under your name > My credit.
• Need more? Your name > My credit > Request more credit emails your admin. At $0, new jobs stop until you're topped up.

10. Limits to know

• It's still AI. Check fine detail (window counts, mullion spacing, balcony edges) against your design before anything goes to a client.
• Renders are illustrations, not construction, planning or compliance documents.
• Text and signage aren't reliable. Add them afterwards.
• After a browser restart Chrome or Edge may ask once to allow your save folder again: click Allow.

Questions about your account or credit: ask your firm's FP_IMAGING admin. Anything else: imaging@fictionalpixel.net.